WC4 difficulties

[davor1963]

Hi
Is there some kind of editor for changing difficulties ,mean fine tuning ,for WC4 please.
It is very hard to pass on veteran or even on low.
WC3 dont have that say so glitch in game.
Thanks

Sorry for lousy english

[ChrisReid]

There is also an invulnerability setting next to the difficulty setting that should get you through just about anything.

On top of that, you can start the game with "wc4 -chicken" at the command line to enter debug mode. You should see the message "Chicken mode: [ON] Boc Boc!" during game start-up to know it's enabled. Then hit Ctrl-W destroy to automatically destroy the ship you have targeted. Ctrl-Alt-W destroys all enemies on the radar.

What are the specific things you're having trouble with? Rookie difficulty mode should be pretty playable with some practice, and the people here can probably give you some hints.

[Farbourne]

At the same difficulty level, WC4 is substantially more difficult than either WC3 or WCP. This seems to me to be due to two factors: (1) the AI is probably the best out of any WC game...the computer pilots know about team tactics and tricks to get the most out of their fighter relative to yours, and (2) the AI is far more likely to use missiles, and use them well, and missiles in this game are far deadlier.

To make it easier, I would advise four things:

* Emphasize your own survival higher than maybe you are. If you're close to a kill and someone gets on your tail or launches a missile, FORGET ABOUT THE KILL and do whatever it takes to evade. Don't try to "just finish this one guy off"...you probably will die.

* Get really good at dodging missiles. Don't just span the decoy button...you'll run out too fast. Look at where the missile is coming in from, break across it's path, drop one decoy, and then hit your burners. Then break hard another way, and hit your burners again. If you still haven't shaken it, drop another decoy and repeat. Think about what other craft do when they annoyingly dodge your missiles, and copy that.

* Get to know the craft you're flying and use its strengths. Hellcat: just dogfight, it's a well rounded craft. Longbow: use the lethality of missiles to your advantage and spam a bunch of FF's when swarmed by light fighters. Banshee: get good at roll-yaw, and learn to make that scatter gun or those leech cannons count. Vindicator: DON'T think of it as a medium fighter--it's really not--fly it like a Shrike or light bomber instead. Avenger: No real advice here--it's heavy and well rounded. Bearcat or Lance: just have fun.

* If you're playing the PSX version, don't. Get on e-Bay, buy a PC version, use the tech support forums here to get it running on modern computers, and play it that way. The PSX version is significantly harder to fly and dogfight in, and the controls are far less intuitive (at least to me).

[davor1963]

Thanks Chrisreid but I know all of this because I am fan of wc since amiga and own original
cd`s of all games in series.My old computer from 1998 is stil on my desk just to play wc only incuding 3dfx voodoo 3 card and sound blaster awe 64 for Propchecy.
What I want is and that is no use of -mitchel in WC3 or -chicken in WC4 is some kind of edtior of difficulties and of course I am not smart enough to make one.
So maybe some of smart guys like HCL and others could do that.

Farbourne you are right in above tactics but when i loose patiente just drop down in roocky difficulties and it is not so hard to pass mission.
It is little sad that WC4 is so hard even sometimes on Veteran that player must play game in I dare to say arkade style just to progress further.
This is little surprising to me that neither of all gamers didnt ask Origin to make it right through some patch.
So if someone could do that please make some editor so that WC4 stands up next to WC3 and WCP equaly.

[ChrisReid]

Originally Posted by davor1963

What I want is and that is no use of -mitchel in WC3 or -chicken in WC4 is some kind of edtior of difficulties and of course I am not smart enough to make one.
So maybe some of smart guys like HCL and others could do that.

It is little sad that WC4 is so hard even sometimes on Veteran that player must play game in I dare to say arkade style just to progress further.
This is little surprising to me that neither of all gamers didnt ask Origin to make it right through some patch.
So if someone could do that please make some editor so that WC4 stands up next to WC3 and WCP equaly.

WC4 is a somewhat hard game overall, but I haven't really heard any outcry with the difficulty levels. Between Rookie, Veteran and Ace, plus the cheats, it seems to me like Origin already put in about the most comprehensive difficulty options available in any WC game. HCl has been mostly offline for the last couple years and has his hands in so many other projects. Unfortunately I don't see the demand for this type of editor out there, and I'm not sure who would do it.

[Mjr. Whoopass]

I think I understand what his gripe is about. It seems he's saying that the difficulty levels in the games don't quite match up since WC4 is much tougher than it's equivilent difficulty levels in the other games.

Try to relish the challenge rather than getting upset at the difficulty. It is a little disheartening when you blow up Kilrah as dozens of Ekapsi swarm around you in WC3 on Nightmare and think you're the universe's best fighter pilot only to find out that you have a hard time getting through even an early WC4 mission. I think the early missions are the toughest in WC4, and most missions get easier from here. If you can rescue the scientist in one of the early missions, then I think you've got it made for the rest of the game. I had to play the scientist one over and over and over. I can't remember any of the later missions giving me near that much trouble (The one where you're in a Longbow escorted by Hellcat wingmen comes close). Hang in there.

[davor1963]

Yes Mjr. Whoopass that is what I am trying to say, but my english in not so elokvent .
Biocemist mission is quite hard but later mission like in Paleus sistem and mission after with disabling transport which I am playing now is much harder and there is no way to pass on other level then Rookie.
I am great fan of WC and bougth all my new computers just to keep up to play these great games.
And that thing is my only objection to that game.
OK I`ll live with it .
Thanks to all of you for respond

[Chernikov]

Missiles seemed to be key. Use them liberally if you've got more than two ships against you but only fire when you know you'll hit... close-range up-tailpipe shots only on fast targets, and try to be inside 2000 or so against anything you shoot at. They're also great for things like ground-based missile turrets that can't dodge.

[Mjr. Whoopass]

Remember too that you don't have to successfully pass every mission to win the game. It's designed so you can fail missions and still win. It makes it more realistic and also matches the way the book turns out. Even Blair had to bail in the Battle of Terra. For instance, to this day I've never successfully passed the defending Melek mission on Nightmare.

[Szegedin]

Just did the 'recon' mission on Tyr on crazy difficulty....when taking pictures of the final installation I actually crashed into a building while doing a close pass....

Got it on my second try though...the missile loving Vindicators were a pain...I can't believe how powerful missiles are compared to WC3, one hit and you're done for....

[Mjr. Whoopass]

You can access tips on http://www.wcnews.com/guides/. Just click on the system you're in under the WC4 heading.

In case you don't feel like doing that here's some tips for that mission: One thing you need to do immediately on the picture taking & scientist extraction missions is blow up the ground missile turret. I use my guns on this since it's a stationary target and easy to hit with lasers. That thing will pepper the air with missiles if you don't take it out right away. I think I used afterburners to close the gap faster and reduce it's chance of hitting me with a missile. When you use afterburners, repeatedly "tap" the afterburner key after reaching full speed rather than holding the afterburners and you'll maintain full speed and only use about half as much burners. That was one of the most valuable tips from any of the game manuals (from WC1's game manual).

You'll need to use a missile to deal with the Ace Vindicator and should be able to take out the non-ace Vindicator with guns alone. Avoid the Banshees on the way to the planet and from it by flying 3.5 Nav Map bars directly perpendicular to the nav before autopiloting. I remember not succeeding in the photo mission and having to fly to all navs with Maniac having to survive the scientist extraction on the next mission. Keeping Maniac alive was likely what made this the toughest of all the missions that are required to pass.

[Glabro]

Things really fell into place in Wing 4. The AI works brilliantly, and for once the ships and weapons match what the game tells you about them. I was totally surprised to find out that yes, a light Banshee Interceptor actually does its job better than a heavy Avenger. Even the wingmen are a lot more survivable in Banshees than Avengers. The deadliness of missiles is another thing in their favour: what good is it to have lots of armour and shields in a heavy ship if one missile kills you anyway?

[Ilanin]

So, yes. Nightmare difficulty. Um. Are Banshees even killable on it? Certainly not with missiles, it would seem. If it was one on one I might be able to take out a Banshee in a Hellcat, but 2 to 1 they can generally whittle me down. It's like trying to take out a WC3 Draket wing except they never slow down and the forward shields don't fail from a single head-to-head pass.

[Mjr. Whoopass]

They're killable 2v1 on Nightmare, but with a Hellcat you can forget about completing the rest of the mission since you'll use up a lot of afterburners and/or armor. I always skipped them by flying 3.5 nav bars perpendicular to the planet, then autopiloting. After completing the planetary sections of the mission, I'd once again fly 3.5 bars perpendicular from the intrepid, then autopilot to skip the 2nd batch.

I can't imagine completing those scientist extraction missions on Nightmare (especially if Maniac needs to survive 3 planetary Nav points) without skipping those.

[Delance]

Wing Commander IV on Nightmare is the definition of hardcore gaming.

[Szegedin]

Originally Posted by Mjr. Whoopass

I can't imagine completing those scientist extraction missions on Nightmare (especially if Maniac needs to survive 3 planetary Nav points) without skipping those.

Why does Maniac need to survive? When I last played that mission Maniac hit a building while maintaining formation with me when I made a run on the SAM turret. He blew up but when I got back to the Lexington he'd been picked up and was ready for the next mission.